In a flurry of counterintelligence activity, the U.S. Department of Justice has charged dozens of Chinese law enforcement and intelligence officers operating in the United States with targeting Chinese dissidents in the United States through physical and cyber means.
In addition, the FBI arrested and charged two Chinese nationals who were running an illegal police station with intent of suppressing Chinese dissidents in New York City.
Illegal Police Station
Last Monday, the FBI arrested “Harry” Lu Jianwang, 61, of the Bronx, and Chen Jinping, 59, of Manhattan, for establishing and operating an illegal police station in New York City.
The two Chinese nationals have been charged with conspiring to act as agents of the Chinese government and with obstructing justice because they deleted messages from their cell phones.
“It is simply outrageous that China’s Ministry of Public Security thinks it can get away with establishing a secret, illegal police station on U.S. soil to aid its efforts to export repression and subvert our rule of law,” said Acting Assistant Director Kurt Ronnow of the FBI Counterintelligence Division said in a press release.
The Chinese Communist Party continues to use malicious means to oppress any sort of threat to its power.
“The PRC, through its repressive security apparatus, established a secret physical presence in New York City to monitor and intimidate dissidents and those critical of its government,” Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division stated.
Online Repression
At the same time, the Department of Justice also charged 44 Chinese law enforcement and intelligence officers with running an online campaign of repression targeting Chinese nationals residing in the United States, including in New York City.
The Chinese government has potent cyber capabilities that it uses to steal secrets, shape outcomes, and control people.
Of the charged individuals, 40 are officers with the Ministry of Public Security and two members of the Cyberspace Administration of China.
The charged Chinese government employees were part of the 912 Special Project Working Group. They created and used fake social media accounts to harass and suppress Chinese nationals living in the U.S. who are protesting against the oppressive methods of the Chinese government and advocating for democracy.
“China’s Ministry of Public Security used operatives to target people of Chinese descent who had the courage to speak out against the Chinese Communist Party – in one case by covertly spreading propaganda to undermine confidence in our democratic processes and, in another, by suppressing U.S. video conferencing users’ free speech,” Acting Assistant Director Kurt Ronnow of the FBI Counterintelligence Division stated.
The Chinese government is afraid of dissidents. The Chinese Communist Party has created a surveillance state unparalleled in modern times. The goal is to identify and deal with dissent at the root, thus preventing a movement that could jeopardize Beijing’s authority and rule.
With the existence of the surveillance state within the country, the only feasible alternative for Chinese people who resist the oppressive Chinese Communist Party is to go overseas. But, it appears, there is no escaping even thousands of miles away from mainland China.
Expert Biography: A 19FortyFive Defense and National Security Columnist, Stavros Atlamazoglou is a seasoned defense journalist specializing in special operations, a Hellenic Army veteran (national service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army HQ), and a Johns Hopkins University graduate. His work has been featured in Business Insider, Sandboxx, and SOFREP.
